A speech by Ibrahim Shuqara regarding the harms of associations.

Abu Malik: ... In response to your words, which require no response.

The Shaykh: Excuse me, please go ahead.
Abu Malik: The brother’s question was about establishing associations that work

The Shaykh : is it
Abu Malik: for the Islamic call

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Abu Malik: and in your answer there is true healing for what might come to a person’s mind, but I would like to add

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
Abu Malik: two or three things. The first is that the experiences Muslims have undergone today, despite their differences in ideological, creedal, and methodological approaches, provide the Muslim with a comprehensive practical answer such that he cannot suppress the answer within himself, or hold it back from his tongue, or say anything other than what he sees. He must ultimately say that these associations or institutions that have emerged in the world of Muslims today in all lands of the earth have not borne fruit; rather, their fruit has been an increase in division, a deepening of disagreement, and an enrichment, as it is said, of the spirit of contention. Nothing is clearer than what is happening now, even among some of our brothers who claim affiliation with the Salafi call. In many Islamic lands, we have found that the hostility between them has reached a point where it can be said that they have despaired of reform and have turned away from reform out of despair of reform itself. Therefore, I say that the experiences indicate practically that if there is any thought about increasing such associations or working on them now, one should completely distance oneself and cut off the thought of them, because the matter does not stop at the ends whose ugly effects we have seen in our lives. The second thing is that you mentioned some matters which, if they were present in such groups or associations, there would be no harm in working on them or forming them to organize Islamic work. So I say, in truth, in order to complete the first point,
there is the legal principle that is not hidden from any of us, which is the chapter of blocking the means to harm. This great principle requires us to think, and even if the work itself or its origin is prescribed, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, that the existence of a group of believers in a place for enjoining good and forbidding evil, or for reform, is a reformative matter for the Muslims. If this work aims at such a thing, there is no harm. But we have seen now in the lands of Muslims that the souls of Muslims have changed and transformed, and there has become within them a love of this world and love of desire, and desire and arrogance of some people over others. Therefore, I say that this principle provides relief, especially since we have mentioned, or it has become clear to us from reality, what is distressing, not what is pleasing. There remains, in truth, another matter, which is that the unity of the Islamic groups existing in our Islamic world today cannot be united on one methodology or one way, and even if they claim this name that we mentioned, then it is necessary to return to the original name, which is the Salaf al-Salih (the Pious Predecessors). But this also calls us to think about ourselves: have we remained standing at the limits of this name in meaning and wording, boundary and form, or have we exceeded it in error, meaning not standing at the minimum of correctness in it? This is what we want to ask ourselves before we look into expanding Islamic work to include these existing groups that you mentioned there is no objection to if such groups existed, according to the one who says this is a Shafi'i, this is a Maliki, this is, etc. But these designations that were for the schools of jurisprudence produced what they produced and distorted what they distorted of the religion. But the groups, to, existing in our Islamic world today have actually gone beyond the scope of the circle of knowledge and exceeded it to the circle of politics. And when they entered these boundaries, whether out of greed, hope, imitation, or other intentions that drive to such work, it has become clear to me from the work of these groups what we must guard against in ourselves and keep ourselves away from being like them or following the path they have drawn, which has been abandoned for a long time, and now they are thinking of returning to what we call people to in these days. And this is what I wanted to say, and may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.